Ramona the Brave

One September afternoon, Ramona stares longingly out her classroom window while sharpening her pencil, watching the kindergarteners decorate the playground asphalt with chalk and wishing she could escape outside and do something creative. She was hoping to share about the progress on their home addition during Show and Tell, but Mrs. Griggs said they did not have time.

While she stares out the window, Ramona wonders what Beezus is doing in her class. Her sister loves school and is enamored with her teacher Mr. Cardoza, who drives a red sports car and lets his students have fun in class. Mrs. Griggs asks Ramona to sit down, reminding her they must work hard in first grade. Ramona wishes her teacher understood that she is a hard worker, but she is bored by the classwork, having already learned the reading sight words. She tries to help her classmate Davy, a struggling reader, but Mrs. Griggs tells her to mind her own work. Mrs. Griggs’s two favorite phrases are “Keep your eyes on your own work” and “Nobody likes a tattletale” (78).

During math instruction, Ramona does not raise her hand to participate even though she knows all the answers. She asks Mrs. Griggs when they can work on their paper owl art project for the upcoming Parent’s Night, and Susan and Howie chime in, also excited to switch to the art project. Mrs. Griggs reluctantly agrees and distributes all the craft supplies. The assignment is to create an owl on a paper bag that will then be stuffed to sit upright on their desks. Ramona decides to make her owl unique by manipulating the eyes, so the owl appears to be looking to the right.

As she diligently works on the other elements of the owl’s body, Ramona notices Susan is copying her work, including the owl’s side-eyed glance. Ramona suppresses the urge to tell the teacher, as she does not want to be labeled a tattletale, and tries to cover her work so Susan cannot see what she is doing. Mrs. Griggs circulates the room, monitoring the student’s progress, and when she comes to Susan’s owl, which is a replica of Ramona’s, she comments on how clever it is and shows it to the class. Ramona is conflicted because she does not want the class to think she copied Susan but also does not want to be labeled a snitch. So, when craft time ends, Ramona sadly crumples her owl and puts it in the trash.

When parent’s night arrives, Mrs. Griggs instructs the students to stuff their owls and display them on their desks. Susan smugly asks Ramona what happened to her owl, and Howie tells the teacher Ramona does not have one. Ramona lies, stating that she does not like owls, but inside she is sad and confused because she does like owls and longs to display her creativity. As her anger grows, she stares at Susan with her springy curls and her copycat owl sitting on her desk, and Ramona loses control. She grabs Susan’s owl, crumples it into a wad, and throws it onto the floor before running out of the room.

Ramona trips and skins her knees as she runs toward home, but the injury does not stop her. She arrives home and flings herself into her mother’s arms. Mrs. Quimby cleans her wounds and dries her tears, but Ramona does not tell her mother what happened at school. Mrs. Quimby tells Ramona that her new room is finished, and she can move in that night. Overjoyed by the good news, Ramona runs to her room and stares at her reflection in the mirror, but she does not recognize the girl staring back at her.

Ramona pretends her closet is an elevator that will transport her to her bedroom. Everything is fresh and new, and she should be excited to spend her first night in her room, but her mother and father are attending Parent’s Night at school, and she fears what Mrs. Griggs will tell them about the owl incident. Howie’s grandmother comes to babysit Ramona and Beezus, and though Beezus is excited for her parents to meet Mr. Cardoza, Ramona tries to convince them to skip the event claiming it will be boring.

Mrs. Quimby announces they are visiting Howie’s house after Parent’s Night, and Beezus says that is when they talk about their children. Ramona worries that whatever Mrs. Griggs tells them will later become the topic of conversation. Ramona finds Howie’s grandmother boring and tries to gain her attention by removing her Band-Aids and pretending to read the newspaper, but Mrs. Kemp is focused on her knitting and watching television, paying little heed to Ramona’s antics.

Ramona finally gives up and decides to try out her new room and go to bed early, but after her bath, she climbs into bed but cannot fall asleep. The emptiness of the room unnerves her, but more than anything, Ramona is worried about what is happening at Parent’s Night. She leaves a note for her mother on the door that says, “Come here Mother. Come here to me” (107). It is the first note she has ever written, and she does not sign it because she knows her mother will recognize her handwriting since Beezus writes in cursive.

On her way back to her room, Mrs. Kemp tells her she is knitting a sweater and cap for her dog. After returning to her room, Ramona listens to Beezus preparing for bed without being told. She thinks her sister is better than her because she would never do something like destroying another person’s artwork. Ramona eventually falls asleep feeling guilty and bad about herself.

Ramona’s mother wakes her up after seeing the note and shares what Mrs. Griggs said about the owl. Mr. Quimby and Beezus listen in as Ramona tearfully tells her mother what happened. Mrs. Quimby explains that it should not matter if Susan copied her owl because it was just a fun art project, but Beezus steps in and defends Ramona saying that it does matter greatly. Mr. Quimby adds that no one wants their art copied, but it is not an excuse to destroy another person’s project. Ramona’s mother tells her she is lucky to be so creative, but Mrs. Griggs wants her to apologize to Susan the next day at school. Ramona is exasperated and goes to bed feeling confused about how unfair the world is and why her first-grade year is going so poorly.

The next morning, Mrs. Quimby helps Ramona formulate her apology for Susan, but she still feels angry she is being forced to apologize. The walk to school is slow and painful as Ramona dreads what she must do, and she eyes the kindergarteners playing outside, envious of their freedom. Mrs. Griggs forces Ramona to stand up in front of the class during Show and Tell and apologize to Susan, and she is so humiliated that she can hardly summon the words. As she walks back to her desk where the teacher cannot hear, Ramona says to Susan, “[…] Even if you are a copycat who—stinks!” (117). Susan’s face turns red, but she does not respond. Mrs. Griggs proceeds with a math lesson, but all Ramona can think about is how much she does not like her teacher, whom she feels does not understand her. Ramona longs to run out of the classroom and never return.